Let me just start this blog out right away by saying I'm not a republican. Nor am I a democrat. I am simply a woman who has prayed for understanding and for wisdom while making her way through life with a Bible in her hand. Recently I married a man whose entire being screams republican. I always identified as a democrat until our last election when both parties made me want to be sick with their immature back-and-forth. I see how terribly ridiculous Americans must look to other countries as tweets fly and scandals and cover-ups occur - and innocent people are used as pawns in this life-game of chess. It is at this time when I wonder when our entire country is just going to implode because of the greed and selfishness on every side.
This week I was brought to the book of Acts in the New Testament of the Bible. I've been wandering around the Old Testament since August, so I was grateful when I was pulled to a NT book. It took me one day, however, to start questioning why I was led to Acts.
One thing that jumped out at me pretty much immediately (Acts chapter 2) was the report of followers of Christ selling all of their possessions and giving them up to be distributed among those followers who were in need. It happens again in Acts 4, and this time I was seriously disturbed because I thought - well, this seems like scripture that a socialist could use to sway believers to their cause for socialism (or democratic socialism as we are calling it here in the good ol' US of A). But, even with my limited amount of history knowledge (I only minored in history for my undergrad), socialism didn't really work out for many countries because the scales tip too far left. What was I missing?
Here's the difference between what happened in the Bible and what is happening now. In Acts chapter 2 & 4, the people who were inspired to sell all of their possessions and bring them to the apostles to be distributed to those in need did so because they were filled with the Spirit of God and were drawn to helping their brothers in Christ. They did so of their own free will because their spirits of selfishness, envy, and greed were dissolved, and they no longer found satisfaction in worldly possessions. They chose to work together with other believers because God became their main source of life and happiness, and they broke free of their worldly desires.
It happens, friends. I've experienced a shift on a much smaller scale (yep, I still own a house and a car). The freedom is un-explainable.
Today's society, unless set free by God's perfect love, has no chance of surviving this forced compassion. Greedy people don't want to give up their things for others who are just as greedy - just less fortunate. Don't get me wrong, I'm not labeling 100% of the people in our country as greedy. But look around, friends. Look in the mirror. We all possess this ugly spirit of greed. There are things we just don't want to give up. Democrat, republican, independent, green, whatever party you want to identify with - there is not one political party who can claim selflessness - unless you're a party of one - Jesus Christ.
The difference between what we see in the time directly after Christ was resurrected and what we are seeing today is that (and if you read the book you'll understand this) is that there is no difference. This compassion and socialistic attitude happened WITHIN the body of Christ. Within the church! No WAY were the Jewish priests and leaders giving up THEIR possessions to help those less fortunate, and no WAY were any of the non-believing Romans doing it either! Today we see people within our church walls doing things for others with their time, talents, and money because God commands us to do so, and we know that through this giving we are more blessed than with our possessing. All of what we own has been given to us by our Father anyway, so giving it back or away is our duty, not our gift to others.
I'm selfish. I don't always give, and I certainly don't always WANT to give, but I, just like most of my brothers and sisters in Christ, am growing and learning. Like I said - it's not about politics, it's about love. It's not about being obligated or forced to have compassion for others. It's about God's commandment to care for His people. We have taken God out of the country's equation - even to the point of changing the pledge to the flag of this once-great country so that God no longer stands above it. Why in the world would we think that He is going to protect us if we cannot even honor Him while we pledge our lives to a piece of cloth? It has become no longer about Him, but about us. Because of this, no matter what we do or how we say it - we can't fake compassion for others. Period.
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